“U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the recipients of the 2011 Sustainable Communities Grants, totaling nearly $96 million. Twenty-seven communities and organizations will receive Community Challenge grants and 29 regional areas will receive Regional Planning grants. The goal of HUD’s Sustainable Communities grants is to help communities and regions improve their economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.”

Put them all together and you get ABAGMTCBAAQMDBCDC! (Or OneBayArea.org, take your pick.)

All the deets:

Region Celebrates Earth Day With Launch of ‘One Bay Area’ Collaborative Effort at ABAG General Assembly and Summit

Regional Agencies and Local Governments Join Together to Chart Course to Meet Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets

OAKLAND, Calif., April 22 — Four Bay Area regional agencies today are launching a major outreach initiative, One Bay Area, at a regional assembly bringing together 350 Bay Area city and county elected officials, regional leaders and community stakeholders at the Oakland Marriott City Center. The regional agency partners — the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) — are coming together in a joint General Assembly and summit to mark the beginning of development of the SB 375 Sustainable Communities Strategy for the Bay Area. SB 375 refers to landmark legislation (authored by Daryl Steinberg and passed by the California Legislature in 2008) requiring regions in California to develop strategies for combating climate change and promoting sustainable communities.

“One Bay Area” harnesses the resources of regional agencies, local governments, county congestion management agencies, local planning and public works directors, city and county managers, public transit agencies, community members and stakeholder groups. These agencies must work together to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced by cars and light trucks in the region over the next 10-25 years. These efforts will be showcased on a new website launched today, located at www.OneBayArea.org.

“One Bay Area underscores the simple and fragile fact that there is only one Bay Area to pass on to our children and grandchildren,” said Scott Haggerty, chair of MTC and Alameda County supervisor, who will be one of the speakers at the Summit.